so a hexblade walks into a bar... [Archive] - Wizards Community

so a hexblade walks into a bar... [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
gordo98
03-21-04, 08:27 AM does anyone want to share their hexblade's backstory? i'm thinking of playing one in an upcoming campaign. i'll post elsewhere for advice on the best build (we're starting at 6th level), but here's what i need *your* help with:

what's a good juicy backstory for this class? how/when did the rather unusual abilities first appear? the basic concept i have is a guy who has a warped sense of justice and rectitude. he thinks he's very moral and very honorable, yet has sort of a tony soprano way of dealing with things.

any & all ideas welcome...
pawnman
03-21-04, 10:10 AM Military. Can't go wrong with the military.

Perhaps he's always caused bad luck to the people around him, without knowing why. Perhaps he only caused bad luck to people he didn't like.

Ask yourself some questions. Who were his parents? Were they upper-class? Peasants? How did he learn to use a sword? Spells?
The_Yellow_Dart_Swinger
03-21-04, 11:16 AM Actully I just made a hexblade and yes I would say military is an excellent place to start. My own character was in the army and was on his way up with his unusual abilities until his luck ran out and do to an unforseen mishap the rest of his squad got killed.

His superiors blamed him for his incompetence and sentenced him to death. He was sprung from his cell by a few people who belived that it really was an accident and he ran off.

But anyways, military is a good start.
Twilly
03-22-04, 04:23 PM Or he might be an outcast. When he was young (12 years?) he discovered his magical powers. Everyone thought that you were a child of a devil or you might be possesed by some fiend, any way nobody was really happy when you were around. You walked away, or was send away. Now you had to survive on your own and you soon learned how to fight.

He has a warped sense of justice and rectitude because he was not accepted by his local environment. He thinks he is very moral and very honorable, because he would never let happen to anyone what happened to him. He will teach all those shortminded 'saints' that tell him that he is wrong, he has seen how easily people betray and abandon others.

Just a thought...
Sarta
03-23-04, 04:06 AM Take a look at your world-setting and see which niche a hex-blade can take up. I know that in the FR game I'm running I allow hex-blades, but they are either followers of Hoar (god of retribution) or Beshaba (goddess of unluck). There are very few of them and they tend to have bases of operation around worship centers of these two gods, but individual hex-blades are very likely to wander.

Usually, a person who seeks to dedicate themselves to seeking revenge or to cause bad-luck to their enemies travels to a shrine or temple of one of these gods. If a screening indicates they are not suitable for serving as a priest or priestess, hex-blade is an option made available to them.

Sarta
Doomclown
03-24-04, 08:08 PM How 'bout something like Escaflowne: the hexblade discovered that

****SPOILERS****
his/her anxiety about the futures of people close to him caused bad things to happen to them. Over time, he learned how to channel the power of his thoughts/wishes into a usable form. Slightly different from Escaflowne, of course, but you get the picture. The character probably has some guilt about bad things he's unintentionally inflicted on people in the past.
Skyrocket
03-25-04, 12:49 AM My take on a hexblade would be a guy who sees himself as very lucky. He has a power dropped into his lap that gives him a pretty nice edge. He can use that power to put a whammy on anyone he wants to.

So he tends to go on about fortune a lot and how in the end it's all about luck. Those who have it live and prosper. Those who don't die. And those with the power to deal out a hex have a leg up on everyone else.
Doomclown
03-25-04, 02:05 AM Originally posted by Skyrocket
My take on a hexblade would be a guy who sees himself as very lucky. He has a power dropped into his lap that gives him a pretty nice edge. He can use that power to put a whammy on anyone he wants to.

C'mon big money, no whammies no whammies no whammies, STOP!

sorry, game show moment
Masque
03-25-04, 09:17 AM My hexblade was an elven pirate who use to run a fairly prestigious ship (as far as pirate ships go at least). After years on the high seas and looting the Sword Coast, his crew decided that he was going soft, and they mutinied on him. He was forced to walk the plank, and washed ashore battered and broken in the ports of Luskan. Since then he has wandered the land, traveling from port city to port city, waiting and hoping for the day when his former ship would be stupid enough to dock. He has formed a small legend of himself along the roads between these cities, protecting caravans that offer him a warm fire and a bowl of stew, and taking what he wants from those caravans who turn him aside. He is most known for his Elven Thinblade, the only weapon he carries, which seems to dance about him as if it had a will of its own.

-M
Azual
03-25-04, 02:42 PM Originally posted by gordo98
does anyone want to share their hexblade's backstory? i'm thinking of playing one in an upcoming campaign. i'll post elsewhere for advice on the best build (we're starting at 6th level), but here's what i need *your* help with:

what's a good juicy backstory for this class? how/when did the rather unusual abilities first appear? the basic concept i have is a guy who has a warped sense of justice and rectitude. he thinks he's very moral and very honorable, yet has sort of a tony soprano way of dealing with things.

any & all ideas welcome...
whats a hexblade?
The_Yellow_Dart_Swinger
03-25-04, 08:20 PM Its a core class in the Complete Warrior book. Basicly its a fighter who causes bad luck to his enemies or people in general.
Old_Hero
03-25-04, 11:04 PM Not a back story, but at one point during a quest I was in our hexblades player was absent so I took up his role and gave him the persona of ash from the evil deads, and army of darknesses.

Created some fun instances as he shouted cliche lines while cursing people. Though out of some sense of karma, later in the quest this character was cursed by a basilisks gaze and turned to stone.

As luck would have it, my halfing slayer of domiel tried to read backwards from a flesh to stone scroll while praying to the gods for his friends de-petrification. Our Gm said 1/20 chance it works, knowing that it wasn't going to. Yet, I called 20 and rolled 20.
What a lucky guy.
psuedopod
04-06-04, 09:25 PM My hexblade is lawful neutral, and a very honorable character; he's attempting to avenge his sister's having been animated as a zombie, and therefore has a paralyzing fear of cadaverous undead. The person who animated his sister is his former mentor.
Frodo Lives
04-06-04, 10:50 PM My hexblade has a little dragon blood in him and a bard (later revealed to be his half uncle) took him under his wing and trained him to channel his inherant magical power. First he tried to have him follow the path of the bard, but the Hexblade couldn't sing and doesn't have any musical talent what so ever, so he helped him learn a different way.

As a boy he was a bit of an outcast with an abusive alcoholic father and a mother with no sense of self worth. This made him quite jaded, but also instilled in him a sense of "proving" himself and being a man of honor. He is quite adamant about keeping his name and reputation clear with the law and with society in general. He doesn't have the same sense of right or wrong as most "good" aligned people, just a very strong belief system in terms of a personal code. He also is very slow to trust people, and it takes him even longer to care about others and build relationships, which makes him seem quite callous and a little cold.

The whole story is about 2 pages so it's a little long to post here, and is too much like a soap opera in some areas, but it does a very good job of explaining why he is the way he is, and why he is attempting to become a Dragon Disciple.
TinySilverChalice
04-07-04, 02:57 PM My hexblade was the second child born of twins. However, the first child was still-born. Her society viewed this as a terrible prophecy come true and raised her only until she could be taken from her mother. The cursed child was left outside a city wall. The guards took the child to an orphange, but she was soon "adopted" by a kind looking woman who turned out to be a buyer of slaves. She was bought and sold to several people before finding her way into glatorial areas where she learned the art of swordplay and her desire for attention.
Aluroon
04-17-04, 09:11 PM TinySilverChalice I love the idea of being born of twins and having the other child stillborn, it kinda makes it seam as though the charictor had bad luck from that start and seams very aproprete for a hexblade. Other then that your storyline gets alittle story book for me, but thats just me.

Twilly I also love your idea about How a charictor would get a warped sense of justace, and am alittle surpise that no one commented on that.

I dont have anything else to add but wanted to point out a couple ideas i thought were great and that no one seamed to nodice.

I also wanted to give some reconize those two people for what i though was a great imagination.
FrozenInHell
04-17-04, 11:41 PM where do you find the hexblade ?
Aluroon
04-18-04, 02:19 PM Complete Warrior, in the first chapter, first new class.
Aluroon
04-23-04, 05:51 PM OO, OO

sudden stupid idea

So, a hexblade walks into a bar..
...

...

and says outch!

Not really that funny, however I would like this thread to get some more attention as its petals are drooping...

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
gordo98 03-21-04, 08:27 AM	does anyone want to share their hexblade's backstory? i'm thinking of playing one in an upcoming campaign. i'll post elsewhere for advice on the best build (we're starting at 6th level), but here's what i need your help with: what's a good juicy backstory for this class? how/when did the rather unusual abilities first appear? the basic concept i have is a guy who has a warped sense of justice and rectitude. he thinks he's very moral and very honorable, yet has sort of a tony soprano way of dealing with things. any & all ideas welcome...
pawnman 03-21-04, 10:10 AM	Military. Can't go wrong with the military. Perhaps he's always caused bad luck to the people around him, without knowing why. Perhaps he only caused bad luck to people he didn't like. Ask yourself some questions. Who were his parents? Were they upper-class? Peasants? How did he learn to use a sword? Spells?
The_Yellow_Dart_Swinger 03-21-04, 11:16 AM	Actully I just made a hexblade and yes I would say military is an excellent place to start. My own character was in the army and was on his way up with his unusual abilities until his luck ran out and do to an unforseen mishap the rest of his squad got killed. His superiors blamed him for his incompetence and sentenced him to death. He was sprung from his cell by a few people who belived that it really was an accident and he ran off. But anyways, military is a good start.
Twilly 03-22-04, 04:23 PM	Or he might be an outcast. When he was young (12 years?) he discovered his magical powers. Everyone thought that you were a child of a devil or you might be possesed by some fiend, any way nobody was really happy when you were around. You walked away, or was send away. Now you had to survive on your own and you soon learned how to fight. He has a warped sense of justice and rectitude because he was not accepted by his local environment. He thinks he is very moral and very honorable, because he would never let happen to anyone what happened to him. He will teach all those shortminded 'saints' that tell him that he is wrong, he has seen how easily people betray and abandon others. Just a thought...
Sarta 03-23-04, 04:06 AM	Take a look at your world-setting and see which niche a hex-blade can take up. I know that in the FR game I'm running I allow hex-blades, but they are either followers of Hoar (god of retribution) or Beshaba (goddess of unluck). There are very few of them and they tend to have bases of operation around worship centers of these two gods, but individual hex-blades are very likely to wander. Usually, a person who seeks to dedicate themselves to seeking revenge or to cause bad-luck to their enemies travels to a shrine or temple of one of these gods. If a screening indicates they are not suitable for serving as a priest or priestess, hex-blade is an option made available to them. Sarta
Doomclown 03-24-04, 08:08 PM	How 'bout something like Escaflowne: the hexblade discovered that **SPOILERS** his/her anxiety about the futures of people close to him caused bad things to happen to them. Over time, he learned how to channel the power of his thoughts/wishes into a usable form. Slightly different from Escaflowne, of course, but you get the picture. The character probably has some guilt about bad things he's unintentionally inflicted on people in the past.
Skyrocket 03-25-04, 12:49 AM	My take on a hexblade would be a guy who sees himself as very lucky. He has a power dropped into his lap that gives him a pretty nice edge. He can use that power to put a whammy on anyone he wants to. So he tends to go on about fortune a lot and how in the end it's all about luck. Those who have it live and prosper. Those who don't die. And those with the power to deal out a hex have a leg up on everyone else.
Doomclown 03-25-04, 02:05 AM	Originally posted by Skyrocket My take on a hexblade would be a guy who sees himself as very lucky. He has a power dropped into his lap that gives him a pretty nice edge. He can use that power to put a whammy on anyone he wants to. C'mon big money, no whammies no whammies no whammies, STOP! sorry, game show moment
Masque 03-25-04, 09:17 AM	My hexblade was an elven pirate who use to run a fairly prestigious ship (as far as pirate ships go at least). After years on the high seas and looting the Sword Coast, his crew decided that he was going soft, and they mutinied on him. He was forced to walk the plank, and washed ashore battered and broken in the ports of Luskan. Since then he has wandered the land, traveling from port city to port city, waiting and hoping for the day when his former ship would be stupid enough to dock. He has formed a small legend of himself along the roads between these cities, protecting caravans that offer him a warm fire and a bowl of stew, and taking what he wants from those caravans who turn him aside. He is most known for his Elven Thinblade, the only weapon he carries, which seems to dance about him as if it had a will of its own. -M
Azual 03-25-04, 02:42 PM	Originally posted by gordo98 does anyone want to share their hexblade's backstory? i'm thinking of playing one in an upcoming campaign. i'll post elsewhere for advice on the best build (we're starting at 6th level), but here's what i need your help with: what's a good juicy backstory for this class? how/when did the rather unusual abilities first appear? the basic concept i have is a guy who has a warped sense of justice and rectitude. he thinks he's very moral and very honorable, yet has sort of a tony soprano way of dealing with things. any & all ideas welcome... whats a hexblade?
The_Yellow_Dart_Swinger 03-25-04, 08:20 PM	Its a core class in the Complete Warrior book. Basicly its a fighter who causes bad luck to his enemies or people in general.
Old_Hero 03-25-04, 11:04 PM	Not a back story, but at one point during a quest I was in our hexblades player was absent so I took up his role and gave him the persona of ash from the evil deads, and army of darknesses. Created some fun instances as he shouted cliche lines while cursing people. Though out of some sense of karma, later in the quest this character was cursed by a basilisks gaze and turned to stone. As luck would have it, my halfing slayer of domiel tried to read backwards from a flesh to stone scroll while praying to the gods for his friends de-petrification. Our Gm said 1/20 chance it works, knowing that it wasn't going to. Yet, I called 20 and rolled 20. What a lucky guy.
psuedopod 04-06-04, 09:25 PM	My hexblade is lawful neutral, and a very honorable character; he's attempting to avenge his sister's having been animated as a zombie, and therefore has a paralyzing fear of cadaverous undead. The person who animated his sister is his former mentor.
Frodo Lives 04-06-04, 10:50 PM	My hexblade has a little dragon blood in him and a bard (later revealed to be his half uncle) took him under his wing and trained him to channel his inherant magical power. First he tried to have him follow the path of the bard, but the Hexblade couldn't sing and doesn't have any musical talent what so ever, so he helped him learn a different way. As a boy he was a bit of an outcast with an abusive alcoholic father and a mother with no sense of self worth. This made him quite jaded, but also instilled in him a sense of "proving" himself and being a man of honor. He is quite adamant about keeping his name and reputation clear with the law and with society in general. He doesn't have the same sense of right or wrong as most "good" aligned people, just a very strong belief system in terms of a personal code. He also is very slow to trust people, and it takes him even longer to care about others and build relationships, which makes him seem quite callous and a little cold. The whole story is about 2 pages so it's a little long to post here, and is too much like a soap opera in some areas, but it does a very good job of explaining why he is the way he is, and why he is attempting to become a Dragon Disciple.
TinySilverChalice 04-07-04, 02:57 PM	My hexblade was the second child born of twins. However, the first child was still-born. Her society viewed this as a terrible prophecy come true and raised her only until she could be taken from her mother. The cursed child was left outside a city wall. The guards took the child to an orphange, but she was soon "adopted" by a kind looking woman who turned out to be a buyer of slaves. She was bought and sold to several people before finding her way into glatorial areas where she learned the art of swordplay and her desire for attention.
Aluroon 04-17-04, 09:11 PM	TinySilverChalice I love the idea of being born of twins and having the other child stillborn, it kinda makes it seam as though the charictor had bad luck from that start and seams very aproprete for a hexblade. Other then that your storyline gets alittle story book for me, but thats just me. Twilly I also love your idea about How a charictor would get a warped sense of justace, and am alittle surpise that no one commented on that. I dont have anything else to add but wanted to point out a couple ideas i thought were great and that no one seamed to nodice. I also wanted to give some reconize those two people for what i though was a great imagination.
FrozenInHell 04-17-04, 11:41 PM	where do you find the hexblade ?
Aluroon 04-18-04, 02:19 PM	Complete Warrior, in the first chapter, first new class.
Aluroon 04-23-04, 05:51 PM	OO, OO sudden stupid idea So, a hexblade walks into a bar.. ... ... and says outch! Not really that funny, however I would like this thread to get some more attention as its petals are drooping...